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He wasn’t wrong about that. Mom had been up here every daysince Nicole had been admitted. She went over her charts with the nurses anddiscussed the physical therapy Nicole would need. Their mom was taking care ofher newest baby bird, and Nicole was about to find out how fierce AbbyBarnes-Fleetwood could be when protecting someone she loved.
Oddly, he thought Nicole wouldn’t mind, her cheeseburgercravings aside. “I got you chocolate and butterscotch.”
“No vanilla?” Nicole asked.
He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “Baby, you leftvanilla a long while back. You’re never getting vanilla again.”
She blushed but winked at him. “Yeah, I guess I did. It’s agood thing I’ve got a taste for butterscotch. Has anyone checked in on Harlow?Did she make it back to Dallas?”
That had been fun. “Oh, yes, but I think she should havehidden out here for a while. Uncle Chase was a paranoid bastard before. He’svowing to get her out of the PI business.”
“And Harlow is basically not speaking to him. She might havejust had surgery, but she knows how to use her middle finger.” Grim sat up,stretching.
The cots they’d been sleeping on were hell on a man’s back,but they weren’t about to leave her. Luckily there was an actualBarnes-Fleetwood wing to this small rural hospital, so no one tried to keepthem out. “It didn’t help they brought Greer along. Greer is the perfect child.Or at least that’s how Harlow sees her. Greer is perfect, and she’s the wildchild everyone worries about. She loves her sister, but it’s an interestingdynamic. Kind of like ours. Grim is the perfect one in our case.”
His brother merely grinned. “I can’t help it.”
Nicole picked up her spoon and the butterscotch pudding.“Well, you weren’t perfect a couple of days ago. You could have been a littlefaster finding me. I think I’m going to avoid getting shot again. All mygirlfriends used to say it. Go to a small town. Get shot. It’s so much fun.They were wrong.”
His stomach took a dive even at the thought. “You are neverleaving the ranch again.”
“That’ll be hard to do since I start work soon.” Nicolelooked so much better after a couple of days of healing. “Also, Kim told useverything is cleared up now. The Holloways don’t care about me at all anymore.They blame Laura for everything.”
“Kim is helping her.” They were all worried about Nicole’ssister-in-law. She’d risked a lot. “She’s safe, and they’ve hired a lawyer toensure they can’t get to her. There’s nothing they can do.”
“And there’s nothing they can do to me, either, so I’m goingto enjoy my new car when I drive Buddy and me to work in a couple of weeks.He’s going to be my work friend,” Nicole announced.
“I thought we would drive in together,” Josh pointed out.
“I’m sure we will sometimes, but I’m going to have meetingsto attend. Abby wants me to join the historical society and a couple of hercharity boards. I’m also thinking about going back to college. Either online,or I can drive into Tyler a couple of times a week. I’d like to finish mydegree.”
“I think that’s great.” She wouldn’t have to worry aboutmoney for the rest of her life. She wouldn’t have to work. But he wanted her topursue all of her dreams. He would happily support her in everything she did.
He loved this woman, and the fact that she was alive andwhole was everything.
There was a knock on the door and then his parents wereinvading. If Olivia hadn’t had a meeting in South Texas she would have beenhere, too. His sister seemed to have shoved all her problems aside in favor ofkeeping her almost sister-in-law company. And Harlow, before her paranoid dadshad come with a private helicopter to take her home.
He would have to watch those situations. Just because he washappy and starting his own family didn’t mean he would leave the old onebehind. It was a lesson he’d learned from his dad.
Who was walking in and had some things to answer for.
“You want to tell me what I’m wearing that has a locatordevice in it? At first I thought it was probably my phone, but then Iremembered you’re a ruthless bastard and I can leave my phone behind.” Joshwasn’t at all pissed at his dad. Merely curious. The truth was they might havebeen screwed without Jack Barnes’s determination to keep an eye on his lovedones. Also, Josh was thinking of the future. He could use some pointers.
His dad had stopped, at a loss for words for once.
Not so his pops. “I think you’ll find it’s in your watch.You remember. He gave it to you for your sixteenth birthday. And when youswitched to a smart watch, he got you a new wrist band. Yeah. It’s there.Grim’s is in his watch as well. He put two on Olivia. The first one was anecklace, but when she decided to get a belly button ring, Jack sawopportunity.”
His mom laughed. “Yes, he used that bit of rebellion againsther.”
“Not against her.” Dad sat down next to Grim and looked abit defeated. “It’s a hard world, and you kids can be made targets.”
“I’m so glad you did it, Jack,” Nicole said, all her humorpushed to the side. “I don’t know I would be here if you hadn’t. Is it in thenecklace?”
His father nodded.
“I like to change my jewelry. I might need a locator where Iknow what it is so I don’t accidently not wear it one day. I was married to aman who would do something like that in order to control me. You wouldn’t, butyou have to let me know.” It was obvious Nicole was going to put up somelogical boundaries. “I’ll be happy to share my location. I don’t want you toworry.”
“Dad, I’m not mad. Grim’s not mad,” Josh said.
